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Finally Going to the Games: Tyson Takasaki

“Roll with the punches and give each and every event the best effort.”

Tyson Takasaki’s third attempt at qualifying for the CrossFit Games was a big one.

He missed the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games by one point, then placed sixth in 2012 after a grueling collegiate football season. This year, Takasaki will be representing Canada West in California for the first time.

Takasaki is grateful for his success.

“After the weekend was said and done, there were a few brief moments of shock and excitement, but honestly, all I could think about was how I wanted to be with all the friends and family that came with me on the trip to Vancouver,” Takasaki says. “Those guys deserved as much praise as I did, and all I could think about was how I wanted to let them know.”

In 2011 and 2012, Takasaki was playing collegiate football and training for Regional competitions at the same time. He struggled to maintain a high level of quality with so much volume.

“I give huge props to anyone who is a collegiate athlete and keeps up with a heavy dose of CrossFit in season, as I had a horrible time keeping up with both and giving good effort every week for game day,” he says.

A solid season of uninterrupted CrossFit training earned Takasaki a ticket to California.

Reflecting on his Regional experience, Takasaki notes that he did well on events where he expected to struggle, and less well on events where he predicted success.

“But that’s just the nature of the beast,” he says.

He won't alter his training plan before the Games, but he will increase the volume, continue to build the systems that were neglected while training for Regionals and add “odd” skills, like cycling.

“My buds mock me as I now have been seen biking to work on my new $99 bike,” he says. “I’m not trying to change too much as we were the last region to go, so the time to prepare is limited.”

With this being his first experience at the Games, Takasaki is grateful for his community from CrossFit 204 and has also sought the help of a good friend and former individual competitor, Angie Hay, to help him along the way.

“Having someone you trust next to you to bounce ideas off of and generally keep me level headed will be huge.”

He's also performing workouts at which he knows he can excel to build his confidence.

Takasaki’s approach to his first Games is simple: “Roll with the punches and give each and every event the best effort.”